President Donald Trump says the White House will offer some preliminary plans on the possible renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) sometime within the next two weeks. While he didn’t get more specific than that, Politico’s Morning Agriculture report adds that a White House spokesman says the Administration is currently working on negotiating text with Congress. The …
Canada Doubling Down on Dairy Trade Comments
Canada continues to say ‘it’s not our problem’ when asked about dairy trade with the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (true-doh) told Bloomberg News Thursday: “It’s not Canada that’s the challenge here.” Trudeau said the U.S. has a large dairy trade surplus with Canada. He stood by his own system, by saying every country subsidizes agriculture, adding: “Let’s …
Mexico Finishing New Trade Deal with Argentina
Mexico is looking to establish closer ties with other Latin American and South American countries after Donald Trump took office in the United States, its biggest export market. Reuters says Mexico expects to finish a new trade agreement with Argentina by the end of this year as it continues to try to diversify its trading partners. Argentina could make significant …
Pence Talks Trade in Japan
Vice President Mike Pence was in Tokyo on Tuesday, calling for “stronger and more balanced bilateral trade relationships” with countries like Japan and South Korea. A Washington Post article says his comments raise the prospect of trade talks with Japan as well as a look into the current agreement with South Korea. Japan and the U.S. seem to have different …
U.S. Petition Seeks Brazilian Beef Ban
An online petition is seeking a ban on beef imports to the U.S. from Brazil. Posted on the White House’s We the People Website, the petition cites Brazil’s tainted meat scandal in asking the administration to ban “unsafe imports” from Brazil until all beef in the U.S. is sold with a country-of-origin label. Food Safety News reports the petition was …
Trade Critical for U.S. Railway Operators
Union Pacific says millions of American jobs depend on trade occurring along the U.S.-Mexican border, and that fact needs to be considered during any discussion of changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. The railroad company is highlighting the impact of the agreement as an effort to promote trade across the border. Less trade between the U.S. and Mexico …
White House Plans to Tackle Tough Issues First in NAFTA Talks
The Donald Trump administration is considering front-loading the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by negotiating the political issues first, ahead of more technical talks. A former official at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office told Politico this week the idea would be to “have a lot of those high-level discussions with principals at the beginning, and …
Pence, Ross, to Talk Trade with Japan
Vice President Mike Pence and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will travel to Japan to discuss trade later this month. The duo is scheduled to travel to Tokyo on April 18th. The U.S. officials will meet with Japan’s finance, foreign and industry Ministers. Japan is the top export market for the U.S. pork industry, and the National Pork Producers Council has …
Mexico Eager to Start and Finish NAFTA Negotiations
Mexico is taking a ‘sooner rather than later’ approach when it comes to potential changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. A top Mexican official told CNNMoney last week: “It will be in the best advantage of the countries involved that we finish this negotiation within the context of this year.” That’s because Mexico will hold a presidential election …
Canada Trade Policies Hurting Rural America
A number of U.S. dairy organizations are asking the Trump Administration to take steps against Canadian trade policies they’re calling “protectionist.” They say Canada is shutting the door on American dairy exports in violation of trade agreements between the two countries. The National Milk Producers Federation, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the International Dairy Foods Association want the president …